A Liverpool man received a Christmas gift from Skaneateles Lake this past Christmas.

Ed Karpinski spent Christmas morning fishing from shore with his buddy Mark Mondak. He was rewarded with a hefty, 26-inch rainbow trout.

I wrote about Karpinski back in 2007 when he was struggling to keep his Christmas spirit alive.

Divorced, he told me his ex-wife had taken all the couple’s Christmas ornaments. He sent me a picture of his Christmas tree, decorated with fishing bobbers.

He turned again last month to his love of fishing to get him through the holiday. Mondak, also of Liverpool, wrote to describe the outing:

“Maybe it was the economy, but I got a pack of Camels for Christmas and Ed got nothing. So we decided to treat ourselves to a fishing trip in the cold,” he said. “Our target was rainbows using the traditional nightcrawler-with-marshmallows, tied in spawn sacks. After a morning breakfast of ham, pigs in the blanket and mashed potatoes, Ed and I set forth on the adventure.”

The two set up on a friend’s property on the east side of Skaneateles Lake, just north of Lourdes Camp.

“We managed to stay out in the cold and wind for 5.5 hours. During that time I got one bite and landed a 16-inch rainbow,” Mondak said.

Karpinski missed one fish and wanted to change spots. Mondak said he was too cold, so they stayed put.

Shortly after, Karpinski started getting “getting little nibbles on his line, with not much pull at all. After a minute of these light tugs he decided to set the hook. Well, he caught a beauty,” Mondak said.

The fish, which weighed nearly 6 pounds, is in Karpinski’s freezer. He told me this week he plans to take it to a taxidermist.